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submitted 1 month ago by SocialistVibes01@lemmy.ml to c/linux@lemmy.ml

Changing from a distro that defaults to nano to another that defaults to vim... What to do other than installing nano and changing visudo?

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[-] Levi@lemmy.ca 67 points 1 month ago

Team Vim. Because I learned the vim basics once 20 years ago and never bothered to learn after that. :D

[-] KingGordon@lemmy.world 12 points 1 month ago

I see you and raise straight vi.

[-] azimir@lemmy.ml 8 points 1 month ago

That's what I was taught at my first tech internship. It's all they had on the UNIX system running the webserver in 1998.

I did write some web pages the pulled live data from the backend. I had the pleasure of writing them in C. I got the data binding to some kind of CORBA system using extern variables that were bound at compile time. All of the html (no js or css yet) was hand built and generated from the C code.

vi was the only editor on the system and there was no way to use arrow keys (the UNIX system didn't have them on the keyboard at all).

I also had the displeasure of building a backup system on a floppy where I had to write a bat script that could manually load a token ring driver, bind a SMB share, load Ghost backup software and backup the local hard drive at under 2mb (yay coax thicknet). The tool used to query and write through the hostname for the backup? Copycon. Fucking copycon in DOS. That showed me how a terrible (but working) tool could be to work with.

Unless an editor can do reasonable vim emulation, I can't take it seriously. You're welcome to use it, but I won't be able to get anything done in it quickly. The vi keys are too ground into my reflexes.

[-] HeHoXa@lemmy.zip 7 points 1 month ago

Vim sorely underrated. Great tools/hotkeys. Felt like a master pianist clacking away while the terminal went berserk until suddenly the 2 hour job was done in 20 minutes.

[-] dparticiple@sh.itjust.works 39 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

At the risk of restarting the Editor wars (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Editor_war) from days of yore, I find it interesting that emacs wasn't even in your list of contenders. I hear it mentioned less frequently these days, so perhaps it's going by the wayside?

For the record, I'm a vi/vim user! I had the privilege of being taught to use it by an RFC-writing greybeard decades ago, and have used it without thinking ever since.

For those who find themselves on a machine with only vi/vim, or want to learn, here's a quick primer when editing a file (usually done by typing "vi foo.txt" in a shell) --

:q! ...Force quit vi (:q also works -- gentler!)

:wq! ...Save file and quit vi

i (then type characters) ...insert text at current position

A (then type characters) ...Insert at end of current line

G ...go to first character of last line in the file

/foo ...search for first occurrence of "foo" in the file (hit / again to find additional instances)

x ...Delete character under cursor

:56 ...Go to line 56

yy ...Copy the line the cursor is currently on into the buffer

p ... Paste the buffer

r (then type character) ...Replace character under cursor

u ...undo (hit multiple times to undo prior actions)

When done with a command like this, hit Esc to go back into normal mode.

Second nature after a bit of practice! I used to work with a guy who insisted on using ed. That was... odd.

[-] kaiyo@piefed.ca 9 points 1 month ago

Yeah but op was comparing editors, not OS's. https://emacsos.dev/

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[-] Rindogang@lemmy.ml 26 points 1 month ago

I use Helix... Uhhh idk I think it's nice I guess

[-] BartyDeCanter@piefed.social 11 points 1 month ago
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[-] eager_eagle@lemmy.world 24 points 1 month ago

micro for sensible defaults out of the box, and because I don't like modal editors.

[-] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 21 points 1 month ago

nano. I can't memorize esoterica.

[-] geneva_convenience@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 month ago

That's who micro exist. And is so much better.

[-] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 10 points 1 month ago

nano still wins. All the shortcuts are listed at the bottom.

[-] geneva_convenience@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Micro doesn't need to list the shortcuts because it uses similar shortcuts to notepad and you don't have to do weird ctrl+x to exit but ctrl+q (for quit). Also copy and pasting isn't a nightmare in it.

[-] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago

Copy and paste in nano work just fine - no clue what you're talking about. It uses standards established in the '80s - Ctrl-X for eXit being an even older standard - and clearly lists them visibly for a quick reminder.

[-] geneva_convenience@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 month ago

Yeah cutting text with ctrl+k instead of ctrl+x (because that's exit) and copying with alt +6 instead of ctrl+c.

Le

Mao.

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[-] SrMono@feddit.org 20 points 1 month ago
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[-] thingsiplay@lemmy.ml 19 points 1 month ago

Team Neovim.

I looked into ed, then decided its not for me.

[-] mathemachristian@lemmy.ml 18 points 1 month ago
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[-] zloubida@sh.itjust.works 17 points 1 month ago

nano for quick things; emacs for longer typing sessions.

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[-] BradleyUffner@lemmy.world 16 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Nano, because it's the only one I can remember how to quit from without power cycling the computer.

[-] Cyber@feddit.uk 9 points 1 month ago

Top Tip: open another terminal and kill the task from there

( /s )

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[-] swab148@lemmy.dbzer0.com 16 points 1 month ago
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[-] tehn00bi@lemmy.world 15 points 1 month ago

NANO I just need simple, and tell an me how to save and exit without abstract key codes.

[-] savvywolf@pawb.social 15 points 1 month ago

Emacs.

With all the vimmery going around nowadays though, I feel like I'm on the losing team. ;_;

[-] wuphysics87@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 month ago
[-] Corngood@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 month ago

Still team Emacs. We're a team because we use elisp, not because of something trivial like how our text editors work.

[-] frog_brawler@lemmy.world 13 points 1 month ago

Vim, but I also find this battle completely stupid.

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[-] Diplomjodler3@lemmy.world 13 points 1 month ago

I only ever use a terminal based editor for making quick edits of config files, so nano works just fine for me.

[-] Infrapink@thebrainbin.org 13 points 1 month ago

I'm an emacs -nw kind of guy.

But if I have to pick one of your options, nano

[-] jbrains@sh.itjust.works 11 points 1 month ago
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[-] Penguincoder@beehaw.org 11 points 1 month ago

vim, mainly cause I haven't figured out how to quit yet.

[-] BartyDeCanter@piefed.social 11 points 1 month ago

Helix when I can install things, vi when I can't.

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[-] mik3dd0@lemmy.ml 10 points 1 month ago
[-] pineapple@lemmy.ml 10 points 1 month ago

I use nano because I haven't learned how to use anything else yet.

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[-] electric_nan@lemmy.ml 10 points 1 month ago

Nano. It's easy and I've never had a reason to change.

[-] Shimitar@downonthestreet.eu 9 points 1 month ago

Vim forever, any flavour, don't care.

Why? Does actually exist anything else for the terminal?

[-] solrize@lemmy.ml 9 points 1 month ago

"Why are we running from the police, Dad?"

"Because they use vim, son. We use Emacs".

[-] brax@sh.itjust.works 9 points 1 month ago

Neovim. One time I accidentally opened nano and couldn't figure out how to get out of it... Wtf is with those keybinds?

Lol at emacs not even being on your list. Suck it, emacs users 😂😂❤️

[-] Obin@feddit.org 9 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Firstly, Emacs is not an alternative to any terminal based text editor, it's an alternative to the terminal based workflow in general.

Secondly, Emacs users can live without the hype, churn and elitism of the vim ecosystem and with a better editor instead.

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[-] nous@programming.dev 9 points 1 month ago

I have switched to using helix, so no matter which distro I am on I need to change it to be my default by setting the EDITOR env var.

[-] solomonschuler@lemmy.zip 9 points 1 month ago
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[-] SocialistVibes01@lemmy.ml 8 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I realized that I'd forgotten about pico and joe, the latter was my very first text editor (hated it!).

[-] thingsiplay@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 month ago
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[-] pelya@lemmy.world 8 points 1 month ago
[-] kofzmann@toots.nu 7 points 1 month ago
[-] AstroLightz@lemmy.world 7 points 1 month ago

I'm on team "whatever comes pre-installed"

[-] Peasley@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

nano but i'm a casual. i can use vi/vim in a pinch, but i'm inefficient. ed and emacs are totally foreign

i tend to use a graphical text editor like Kate unless there is a specific reason to do it in the terminal

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[-] clmbmb@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 1 month ago
[-] iByteABit@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 month ago

I used to use Neovim but now I mainly use Helix, it's really good by default, the most hassle is usually just looking up an LSP for a language and installing it.

My config file literally only has the theme I use, unlike the heavy configs I'd have to make so that vim/nvim are the way I want. I also like the multiple cursor approach it has to editing.

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this post was submitted on 02 May 2026
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